Some people acknowledge Him by using His name as an
expletive, or exclamation.

Others say they believe in God, yet follow none of His
directives for living their lives.

Today, were going to look at what it should really mean to
acknowledge God.

The Book of Job is probably the oldest Book in the Bible.

It is believed that Job was a contemporary of Abraham, who
lived some 4,000 years ago, and as such, Shem, the son of Noah, was most likely still
alive, as a direct witness of the Flood, and the reason that it occurred.

But even Job, in all his faithfulness, still found himself
falling short of fully acknowledging the magnificence of God.

Job, in his frustration, thought himself justified in
arguing with God over God's motives in allowing what happened to him to happen.

And in so doing, Job made himself out to be somewhat equal
to God.

Thus, God lovingly answers Job with a rebuke to him and his
friends (38:1f).

1. Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and
said,

2. "Who is this that darkens counsel By words without
knowledge?

3. "Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask
you, and you instruct Me!

Do you note the touch of sarcasm?

God doesn't want to force us to worship Him, which He could
easily do, for that would not be worship, but ritualistic behavior.

To truly worship God, we must first acknowledge Him for who
He is, and do so willingly.

And once we have done this, our worship becomes more
genuine, because we have come to realize who He really is in the depths of our hearts and
souls; and the awareness of the awesome difference between Him and us should humble us
into willing submission.

And to get Job and his friends properly refocused their
minds and spirits, God says,

4. "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the
earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding,

5. Who set its measurements, since you know? Or who
stretched the line on it?

6. "On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its
cornerstone,

7. When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons
of God shouted for joy?

Then God makes reference to the rain and the Flood, and the
way the waters of that day have now been contained, as if to remind them of what happened
less than 500 years before.

8. "Or who enclosed the sea with doors, When, bursting
forth, it went out from the womb;

9. When I made a cloud its garment, And thick darkness its
swaddling band,

10. And I placed boundaries on it, And I set a bolt and
doors,

11. And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther;
And here shall your proud waves stop'?

Obviously it wasn't Job or his friends, it was God alone
who did all this.

Why is it so hard of us to willingly acknowledge this?

With all of our technowlogy, we cannot even fully predict
the whether, let alone control it, which is what God asks Job and his friends if they can
do (34-38).

34. "Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that
an abundance of water may cover you?

35. "Can you send forth lightnings that they may go
And say to you, 'Here we are'?

36. "Who has put wisdom in the innermost being, Or has
given understanding to the mind?

37. "Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or tip the
water jars of the heavens,

38. When the dust hardens into a mass, And the clods stick
together?

It should be obvious that only God can do this.

We need to acknowledge God.

We need to acknowledge who God really is, in all His glory.

And we need to acknowledge who we really are before Him.

This is exactly what God wanted Job and his friends to
fully understand, and this is exactly what the writer of Psalm 104 did.

2. Covering Thyself with light as with a cloak, Stretching
out heaven like a tent curtain.

3. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;
He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind;

4. He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His
ministers.

We look at things so technically today, we fail to focus
upon God in these poetic ways, ways that bring us closer together.

We really need to see God, yes, even today, even more so
today, moving about His creation in this poetic manner.

For as we more fully see God, the easier it is to
acknowledge Him in every aspect of our lives, which includes following the intent of both
His creation and His commandments.

5. He established the earth upon its foundations, So that
it will not totter forever and ever.

6. Thou didst cover it with the deep as with a garment; The
waters were standing above the mountains.

7. At Thy rebuke they fled; At the sound of Thy thunder
they hurried away.

8. The mountains rose; the valleys sank down To the place
which Thou didst establish for them.

9. Thou didst set a boundary that they may not pass over;
That they may not return to cover the earth.

And once again we have a reference to the Flood, as
probably the greatest post creation event, one that changed the surface of the earth, as a
way to help us focus ourselves upon God.

And in acknowledging who God really is, in all His creative
majesty, the psalmist also acknowledges the truthfulness of Scripture.

Probably the biggest problem we have as the human race, is that we deny
the presence of God, in order to fulfill the evil intent of our minds and hearts and
souls.

For, when we acknowledge God, we also become responsible for our
actions.

I want us to really think about all of the world religions, and about
how the various peoples of this world get along with one another.

And I want us to honestly look at the people who call themselves
Christians, and see if we really reflect the image of Christ throughout the world.

And as we reflect upon these things, listen to what Paul wrote to the
Romans about people who don't acknowledge God (1:18-23).

18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

19. because that which is known about God is evident within them; for
God made it evident to them.

20. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His
eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has
been made, so that they are without excuse.

21. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or
give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was
darkened.

22. Professing to be wise, they became fools,

23. and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the
form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

I personally find it amazing how mankind, over the centuries, has lifted
up animals as deities, and at the same time persecute and eat them.

The very fact of our ancestors worshipped other humans and animals is,
in itself, a significant acknowledgment of the created soul, spirit, and intelligence of
these individual creatures.

Yet, today, most of us deny these attributes to the animals.

We deny the truth.

Now, let's consider one more passage from 2 Corinthians 6:16.

16. Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the
temple of the living God...

Could our problem as Christians be that we are so unsure of our own
selves and our own faith, that to make ourselves seem religious, when we are not, that we
fight and pick at each other, and at animals, over man made ritualistic practices, that
really have nothing to do with God's first intent to love Him and each other?

Could we be doing this because it's a way of denying the presence of God
in others who are different from us, for to admit the presence of God in others, we might
be accused of making them seem like God's children also, and in some ways as idols?

Just because we acknowledge God's created truth in the other beings does
not mean that we should worship them.

On the contrary, it should bring us closer to the One who gave us all
these attributes, and worship Him.

To be able to see the touch of God in every aspect of creation makes us
also responsible for it's care.

But if we deny the presence of God, we then can justify ourselves in our
abuse and ravaging of God's creation as we please, for we are no longer accountable to
anyone.

To deny God, or any part of His creation, doesn't make God disappear, or
us less responsible; it only shows how foolish such people really are.

To say in our hearts, that God doesn't love a Buddhist, or a black
person, or a cow, or a chicken, or a forest, or an ocean, or any other created being or
thing, is really a way of expressing our own lack of love and faith.

It's a way of trying to hide ourselves from the truth, and our own
responsibility.

It's a way of shielding ourselves from pain.

For if we allow ourselves to fully acknowledge God, we will find
ourselves also feeling the pain and suffering we have caused, and are still causing in the
world around us.

We can never fully be God's children, until we allow the mind of Christ
to be our mind, too.

We need to acknowledge God to such an extent, that the pain and cries of
oppressed people cause us to stop oppressing them, and to stop others from oppressing
them.

We need to feel the pain and suffering we are causing the animals, to
such an extent, that we stop causing it.

And we need to feel the suffering of God over how we are systematically
destroying His creation, that we stop doing it.

In other words, to fully acknowledge God, we must allow ourselves to be
filled with His unconditional love and compassion.

We've made excuses for too long a time.

It's time to really be Christians.

It's time to fully acknowledge God.

It's time to live His unconditional love and compassion for the whole of
creation.